Cornwall LivingIssue #127
To the rescue
Looking to the future as it marks its 35th year, the Cornwall Air Ambulance will forever need your help!
As the first service of its kind in the UK, Cornwall Air Ambulance has been saving lives since 1987, providing critical care to over 1,100 seriously sick or injured people across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly every year.
When a 999 call is made, the team respond to those medical emergencies and trauma-related incidents that are most serious or in hard-to-reach places, demanding the expertise of highly trained critical care paramedics. The most frequently attended missions include cardiac related call outs, road traffic collisions, falls, equestrian injuries, head injuries and incidents relating to mental health, with the team on standby 19 hours a day, 365 days per year, with the trusty AW169 helicopter and two rapid response vehicles (RRVs)
In 2021 Cornwall Air Ambulance was tasked to 1,092 missions across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. The team of critical care paramedics and doctors responded to 534 medical emergencies and 551 trauma-related incidents. They also flew seven inter-hospital transfers to ensure seriously sick patients could receive the specialist treatment they needed. Despite the various Covid-19 restrictions in place last year, the aircrew continued to operate for 19 hours every single day, supporting locals and visitors in their greatest moment of need. On average, the crew were tasked to three incidents a day.
The crew carries additional kit compared to land ambulances, meaning they can bring the hospital to the patient, so to speak. 2021 was the inaugural year of Cornwall Air Ambulance carrying blood products on board the aircraft and RRVs. The ‘Blood on Board’ service launched as a collaboration with the blood transfusion service at Royal Cornwall Hospital Trust, South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust and Cornwall Blood Bikes. The critical care paramedics underwent a rigorous training process to be able to administer transfusions, which was overseen by the charity’s doctors. This means the critical care team can start emergency transfusions before a patient even reaches the hospital, with the charity’s crew carrying out 12 pre-hospital blood transfusions in the first year of the service.
As the service marks its 35th year, Cornwall Air Ambulance has been busy planning for the future, ensuring it continues to serve the people of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. A major part of this is the extension to the charity’s headquarters in Newquay, which is now underway.
Over the years, as the charity has grown and extended its operations with the purchase of the AW169 helicopter, increased operating hours from 12 to 19 per day and a bigger aircrew team, it became apparent the current building was no longer fit for purpose.
In 2019, Cornwall Air Ambulance was awarded grant funding of £897,700 from the Department of Health and Social Care towards a proportion of the building costs for a new crew facility. While the Covid-19 pandemic delayed the start of the project, work is now well underway to extend the existing hangar, providing better training facilities, a significantly improved operations room, and more rest areas for the aircrew, with works due to finish in spring 2023.
Alf Evans, Head of Operations at Cornwall Air Ambulance, says: “The new three-storey building will provide the crew with immersive training rooms, study areas, sleeping pods and quiet areas for some much-needed downtime after emergency missions. It will ensure the aircrew have the best resources to continue to provide the best possible service to the people of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, which is the focus of everything we do at Cornwall Air Ambulance. Importantly, it will also future proof the charity’s operations, allowing for further growth where needed.”
Each year it costs over £5million to provide this lifesaving service to the people of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. As a charity, Cornwall Air Ambulance relies on the generosity of supporters to fund emergency missions, and your support will help the next person in their greatest moment of need.
You can help this amazing life-saving service by fundraising, becoming a regular giver, taking on a challenge, shopping at your local charity shop, leaving a gift in your Will or donating. To find out about all this and more, make sure to visit the website or any of the social media pages. You may just help to save a life!
CORNWALL AIR AMBULANCE
